Dubai: A student has been accused of possessing and consuming drugs after he fell asleep at a petrol station while attendants were filling the tank.

The 29-year-old Emirati student, M.M., was said to have been under the influence of drugs when he fell asleep in his vehicle after he drove into a petrol station to fill up in March.

Drug enforcement officer seized different forms of drugs and cigarettes stuffed with hashish when they tried to wake him up at the petrol station in Ras Al Khor.

Drugs prosecutors charged M.M. with possessing and consuming drugs and mind-altering substances.

The student pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said M.M. possessed 538gm of hashish, three hashish-stuffed cigarettes and 48 Pregabalin capsules for consumption purposes. He was also charged with consuming hashish, amphetamine, tramadol, and liquor.

When he defended himself before presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi, he refuted his accusations, contending that the drugs which were seized with him were for medical purposes.

He argued that drug enforcement officers obtained a confession from him under duress and after beating him.

He contended that he sustained a fractured arm because he was reportedly beaten to confess to a crime he claimed he did not commit.

An anti-narcotics policeman testified to prosecutors that the petrol station’s workers reported to the police about someone sleeping in his car while filling his tank.

“A police patrol was dispatched to the location … we did not find the keys and had to push the car to a side. The suspect could not speak or lift his eyelids when we tried to wake him up. When we searched his vehicle, we found two knives and a piece of hashish. We also found mind-affecting pills. We found different banned substances and tools that are commonly used by addicts to consume drugs. A Taser gun was also found in the vehicle. When we asked the suspect his name, he gave us a different name. Upon confronting him later, he claimed that he provided us with a different name because he has a drugs record in Abu Dhabi,” the policeman claimed.

A ruling will be heard on June 29.